The Attachment
by gorblimey2
Summary: SHORT STORY-O/C babe Friday Night challenge- House has to end something before he can begin a relationship.  What could it be?


**This story was written in response to the o/c babe forum's Jan Fri Night Challenge- House has to end something before he can move forward.**

**The Attachment**

I told him that he had to end it or we couldn't be together and he hesitated. That's when I walked out. Bastard.

I didn't mind the hooker masseuse. I figure if a massage ends in a happy ending, it's just sex. This was different; this was an emotional attachment that made me worry as to whether he could ever truly commit to me. I knew that I could lose him and I did.

He called me the next day and told me straight up that he couldn't end it. The relationship he had with her was too strong, too important to both of them. He wanted to be with me, but the price was too high. Maybe it was, maybe I was asking too much, but their relationship was like a fish line that at any moment could reel him back in time, before me, back to what they shared before. He said that it wouldn't, that he could keep his current relationship with her separate from the relationship that had brought them together, but I still felt threatened.

Once he made his decision, I gave up. My life would have to go on without him. I'd done it before. I was old enough that this wasn't the first time my heart had been broken and it probably wouldn't be the last. My plan of attack was to first break off all contact with him-not hard, he hadn't called since telling me he couldn't end it. After a month I put my big toe back in the water and went out with my girlfriends. We ended up dancing with some guys who hit on us…my two friends went home in pairs, I went home alone. I wasn't at the point where I could have casual sex. Actually, I never went home with a guy the first night and casual sex wasn't really my cup of tea.

I remember when we met, both waiting in the dentist's lobby for our appointments. He pointed to the magazine I was reading, _Popular Mechanic,_ and asked if we could exchange reading materials.

With a grimmace on his face he announced, "I doubt seriously that you're enjoying that, but even if you are, I'm enjoying this even less." He held up an issue of Oprah.

I raised an eyebrow, "That's an old issue; I read it when I was here last time. Apparently you _can_ wear white after labor day."

"Please?" He said waving the magazine in my face.

I shook my head and went back to reading. He sat down in the chair next to me even though we were the only two in the twenty-seat waiting room. "Please sit somewhere else, you're making me uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable is the least of your worries."

"Are you threatening me over a magazine?"

"No, I'm propositioning you. How would you like to get a drink later and then you can tell me about the new Lexus engine." He motioned to the Popular Magazine cover which raved about some new improvement to the Lexus.

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. "Does this work? Do you get women this way?"

"I don't know. I guess if you go out with me it does."

"I don't know you."

"Yes, that's typical for when two stranger meet. But, you're not wearing a ring, so you're probably divorced. Your shoes are polished and your bag has been recently cleaned too which means you have time to do those things, thus I doubt you have kids. You're dress says that you are a professional and the fact that had to come late in the afternoon to fit in the appointment means you're probably in the law, especially since you carry that pilot's case with you."

It was my turn. "Well, you look like a homeless man, but your vocabulary and wit tells me you're far too intelligent to be homeless, so this manner of dress is your way of thumbing your nose at authority. Because you can afford the best dentist in town, you probably have a good job and you're very good at it or you wouldn't be allowed to look so disheveled. So, the answer is yes, I'd like to find out what it is that you're so good at."

He grinned. "My name's Gregory House."

"Annabelle Lee."

"You're joking."

"Annabelle Lee McDermit."

He started laughing. "Your parents were English majors?"

"Professors at a small college in Philadelphia."

He shook his head. "If I ever had a kid, I'd name him Perciville."

"After the English composer?"

He rolled his eyes, "Percy Sledge."

"Annabelle?" The dental assistant called out my name and waved a manila file in the air while giving us both a patronizing grin.

House whispered in my ear, "Mezzaluna at seven?"

"Deal."

And that's how I met Greg. We had a wonderful three months together and then we finally got around to talking about our former relationships. Yes, I was divorced, but I'd been divorced for ten years.

"My dumb-ass ex, who was way more handsome than he was smart, was long gone, having died after robbing a local Dairy Queen in his home town. He'd painted his face gold to disguise his identity. They found him dead an hour later from toxic asphyxiation. The paint had killed him."

Greg laughed so hard when I told him that story that he started turning red in the face. We had numerous looks from everyone around us and I was actually embarrassed on several levels, both that I had married an idiot and Greg was drawing attention to us at the restaurant.

He told me about Lisa Cuddy, the long years of flirting, the short year of dating, the breakup last year, the resulting attachment that he couldn't break. I was numb. Clearly, he couldn't move forward with me until he dealt with the residual strings of the last relationship. I made the demand and the next day he called to tell me that he couldn't follow through.

Now I'm staring at my cell phone and the caller i.d. says _House. _My heart is jumping and everything inside of me was sparking. I tried to calm myself. "Hello?"

"Belle, I…"He was struggling for the right words. "I want you to meet her. Maybe if you meet her, you won't feel so threatened."

"I know she means a lot to you, that she's probably not going to drag you back to that relationship, but it's like a sword over my head."

"Please, just meet her. I've arranged to pick her up tomorrow and we could all meet at someplace neutral…how about the ice cream shop at noon? Please?"

"Greg…I don't know. I was starting to have feelings for you and this scares me. What if you do go back?"

"I swear it's over. But if you meet her you'll be able to tell why I can't stop seeing her."

"Okay… tomorrow."

I wanted to look nice, but not like I was trying too hard. I decided to go casual so I put on my sexiest jeans and a gingham blouse. I drove downtown and parked in the public garage and walked to the ice cream shop taking a seat by the window to wait for their arrival. I didn't think they were going to show, but then I saw House, smiling and laughing with her. The way he looked down at her, I could see the feelings he held for her right away. I couldn't blame him. She was petite with beautiful brunette hair and a winning smile. She was in a lovely outfit, a tank top under a floral cardigan and a short hunter green a-line skirt.

Greg looked a little nervous as he approached the table, still holding her hand. I stood up to face her, seeing right there and then why Greg had a hard time ending the relationship with her. There was a bond between them and asking him to end it wasn't going to work.

Leaning over the table, I stuck out my hand as Greg introduced us.

"Annabelle, this is Rachel Cuddy."

THE END


End file.
